Many of you have written to find out how you can help the survivors of the terrible earthquake which destroyed the city of Jyekundo (Yushu) in Eastern Tibet Tuesday morning. The epicenter of this earthquake was actually in Rima, the location of Ayang Monastery, as well as the new Amitabha Foundation-sponsored clinic and boarding school.

Rinpoche was given permission by the Chinese government to move Ayang Gompa (monastery) to a more central location . The new monastery is being built on the shores of sacred Nying Je Tso, the “Lake of Compassion”, also called the “Lake of 21 Taras”.

In 2005, His Holiness Chungsang Rinpoche, one of the two supreme heads of the Drikung Kagyu lineage, visited the new monastery to give his blessings.

Building is under way and we are in need of funds to continue. Please consider making a donation to the Ayang Monastery in Tibet

At Rinpoche’s request, in 2004 two of his Western students travelled to Tibet to try to find ways to reduce maternal mortality in his monastery area. Local nomads and village leaders requested that a clinic be built and doctors trained to help meet the health needs in the community.

After receiving a grant from the Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation and generous donations from Rinpoche’s students, in 2006 construction of a new clinic building got underway with a land blessing from Achu Rinpoche.

The clinic was finished in 2007 and with grants from The Rotary Foundation, Direct Relief International and personal donations, medical equipment and an ambulance were purchased. By the summer of 2008 the village doctors were treating 20-50 patients every day.

Nomadic families live 5-10 km apart in order to graze their yak and sheep on the Tibetan Plateau. This makes it difficult for children to attend day schools, so in 2007 Ayang Rinpoche supplemented the government’s contribution to help build a new boarding school in Rima Village, Rinpoche’s birthplace area.

Now 125 boys and girls aged 7-12 years are receiving instruction in Tibetan, Chinese and mathematics. With money from a Rotary grant, a new well has been built (insert “school well”) and summer and winter uniforms and shoes purchased for all the children.

This summer, with funds donated by the Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation and personal contributions, construction will start on a new kitchen and dining room, as well as additional dormitory space. Many of the children are now being sponsored by Rinpoche’s Western students, allowing even the poorest children to have all the necessary supplies, food and clothing to attend school. For only $180 per year you can make a difference in a Tibetan child’s future.